Home
by Xmarksthespot
Summary: Nightwing knows this is the last time he'll be seeing Mount Justice in one piece. Pre-Darkest, 2x09


**Title**: Home  
**By**: Xmarksthespot  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own YJ  
**Words**: 1,000+  
**Notes**: Set before "**Darkest**", episode 2x09

**X-X-X-**

"_Home is where the heart is."_

The mountain is empty this particular afternoon, with the tangerine sun setting behind it, the seagulls ending their adventures by the shores and the feeling of serenity misting through the air. The only blemish to this tranquility is a dark figure with a highlighted blue bird symbolised on his chest, calmly stepping into the cave's entrance.

Nightwing heads to the bedrooms first, not necessarily his own. He gulps upon entrance of Conner's bedroom – his friend's first _real_ home – and takes a look around the area. It's cleaned up mostly, and he believes that his possessions were moved to Metropolis some time ago. But there isn't a speck of dust on any of the furniture – nothing that indicates this place is ever lonely.

After opening a few drawers, he finds a small journal, recalling the times when the boy of steel had carried it around with him around the cave. He doesn't quite know what Conner has written in it, but doesn't bother invading his friend's privacy anymore; he drops the journal into a small bag.

He goes through a series of other rooms, though the numbers of valuable possessions are low. He leaves pens and papers lying around, and some of the girls' makeup and jewelry. Photos, he pulls them out of their frames, scans them with his wrist computer, and places them back to where they sat originally.

The hero doesn't bother going through the trophy room – there isn't time for that – and heads for the Martian's; this had been her first (Earth) home too. A sour twist appears on the edges of his lips as he realizes this, but Nightwing enters the room anyway.

It's no surprise that M'gann's room is cluttered in posters and magazines, cookbooks and collections of trinkets she's bought over the years. Her photos and memorabilia seem to be the main priority and he's somewhat shocked when he finds that she's kept all of their old photos with Kaldur deep within her drawers, but continues to make copies of every photo anyway.

When he finds a secret compartment underneath her floorboards, he smiles at the sight of the necklace M'gann's kept – the one Conner had given to her some time ago when they were together, back when everyone was safe and sound and all he had to do to make the missions more enjoyable was laugh through the night like a boy at a circus. He tosses it in the bag as well, realizing how full it's gotten so far.

Garfield's is last on his list, and he does this purposely. The boy is actually the main reason why Nightwing is doing all this. The video tapes in the green boy's room are comparable to the poster of the family of three, plastered on his own wall in Blüdhaven. He's made copies of the poster, of course, but he knows that these are Garfield's only connection left.

Pulling tape after tape out of the shelves, Nightwing plays them one by one as his computer copies each video and imprinting them onto blank tapes. The sight of Marie on the screen makes the hero feel apologetic for what's to come, but he silently promises the woman to keep her boy safe, just like someone else many years ago, who promised a pair of acrobats that he'd keep their boy safe.

The copies of _Hello Megan!_ go onto Garfield's shelves; the originals go into Nightwing's bag. There isn't anything out of place, he notes as he puts everything back to where they came from, nothing out of the ordinary.

He takes one quick look at the living room area again, smiling at the stains on the couches from their many food fights and late night movie get-togethers, the cracks in the walls from their adventurous, albeit a little extreme, games, and every edge and corner in the room. He wishes he could fold each memory up and slip them into his bag as well.

With a deep breath, he enters the basement, where a glow is emitting from – the only source of light left from the fallen soldiers: the family and friends of Earth's heroes. He turns on the switch, illuminating the room. He smiles at the sight of the holograms.

With a wave to Ted Kord, he walks pass Tula, looking straight into her transparent eyes and giving her a nod, confirming her old lover's safety. There isn't much to do with the recent addition, Artemis, other than to add mental notes here and there. Finally, he reaches to the hologram of the boy clad in bright colours.

He cracks a smile to the familiar boy, insisting that the boy would smirk back if he could, but the smile falters almost immediately.

"Hey, little bro," he says, "I know you hate it when I don't get to the main point half the times, so I will this time... But just so you know, I kinda almost always wanted a younger sibling, even though we didn't get along at first. And when I realized how awesome it'd be to have one, I decided to spend more time with you, which is why I never shut up, even when you told me to. I –" he pauses, " – I sometimes think that wasn't enough, that maybe I should've hung out with you more because then maybe…

"I should actually get to the point now, shouldn't I?" He forces a chuckle, but his face darkens almost instantly. "I'm here to say goodbye. I'm not going to see you here anymore. I mean, we still have photos of you at the manor, and I have plenty at Blüdhaven – so you're not going to be completely gone from our lives; you'll still be home regardless of what happens." He presses his lips together, then finally: "I'm sorry, Jason."

Nightwing extends his arm, hand reaching for the former hero's, but falls through the hologram. Still, this is the closest he'll get to holding his younger brother's hand, and with another look at the boy who should have been there right now, laughing through the chilly Gotham air alongside him and their father figure, Nightwing drops his arm, knowing this would be the last.

He shuts off the lights without looking back, mind blocked with guilt and fear, but it's the risk he has to take.

Mount Justice is destroyed the following day.

.

**X-X-X-**

**A/N**: Please review :)


End file.
